July 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By: Ben Werner
Boeing was awarded a $1.5 billion contract to build 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the Kuwait Air Force, according to a Wednesday Pentagon contract announcement.
Kuwait is buying 22 of the single-seat “E” variant and six of the two-seat “F” variant Super Hornet. The deal has been in the works since late 2016 when U.S. State Department notified Congress about Kuwait's intent to purchase Super Hornets. On March 30, Boeing was awarded a $1.16 billion contract to research, development and testing for the Kuwait deal.
The deal Kuwait finalized Wednesday is a scaled-down version of the initial purchase announced in 2016 which involved 40 aircraft. At the time, the deal was considered significant by industry analysts and U.S. government officials because it would keep Boeing's Super Hornet production line operational.
Since the 2016 announcement, Boeing has courted several potential international Super Hornet customers, including Finland, India, Switzerland and Germany. The U.S. Navy has announced it plans to purchase 116 additional Super Hornets — bringing its fleet up to 480 aircraft. When the Navy orders are added to possible international sales, the St. Louis-based production line could remain running for more than a decade.
The following is the complete June 27, 2018 contract award.
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $1,504,995,240 fixed-price-incentive-firm contract that provides for the production and delivery of 22 F/A-18E and six F/A-18F Super Hornets in support of the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (41.4 percent); Hazelwood, Missouri (28.2 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (4.7 percent); Santa Clarita, California (4 percent); Bloomington, Minnesota (3.3 percent); Greenlawn, New York (2.8 percent); Endicott, New York (2.3 percent); Santa Ana, California (1.9 percent); Clearwater, Florida (1.5 percent); Clifton, New Jersey (1.3 percent); Mesa, Arizona (1.3 percent); Torrance, California (1.2 percent); Ontario, Canada (1 percent); Vandalia, Ohio (0.9 percent); Kalamazoo, Michigan (0.8 percent); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (0.8 percent); East Aurora, New York (0.7 percent); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2.1 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2021. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $1,504,995,240 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-18-C-1060).
https://news.usni.org/2018/06/28/kuwait-finalizes-contract-for-28-super-hornets
November 11, 2024 | International, Aerospace
Ukraine will benefit from SAR satellite imagery data from Rheinmetall and ICEYE as Russian forces make operationally significant gains.
June 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon is facing billions of dollars in pandemic-related claims, which may force it to dip into modernization and readiness accounts if Congress doesn't backfill the money, the department's top acquisitions official said Wednesday. Testifying at the House Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord reaffirmed the Pentagon's commitment to request supplemental appropriations from Congress, beyond its fiscal 2021 budget of $740 billion. It's been seven weeks since Department of Defense officials first publicly disclosed a request was coming; that request is currently sitting with the White House Office of Management and Budget. The defense industry claims are expected to be covered by Section 3610 of the coronavirus relief package, among other provisions, Lord said. To give an idea of the scope, one of the major prime contractors told the DoD it and its suppliers could claim as much as $1 billion. Under Section 3610, the Pentagon and other agencies can reimburse suppliers for expenses to keep workers employed. Under other provisions, contractors can seek reimbursement for leave and DoD-directed purchases of personal protective equipment, cleaning, and costs associated with spacing out workers in factories. “The department does not have the funding to cover these costs,” Lord said, which she later said were “in the lower end” of “double-digit billions of dollars.” Lord affirmed the Defense Department would need Congress to pass supplemental appropriations beyond its fiscal 2021 budget during an exchange with HASC ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas. “Otherwise these contractors are going to have to eat several billion dollars, which could well come at their employees' expense, which this was supposed to help to begin with,” Thornberry noted. “There's a choice there,” Lord said. “Whether we want to eat into readiness and modernization ― and slow down modernization or readiness on an ongoing basis ― or whether we want to remedy the situation in the next six months or so ... and continue to have the ready forces we need for our national security.” Though some House Democrats have expressed reservations about the size of the Pentagon's budget request, HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joe Courtney, D-Conn., expressed support, saying: "The intent of Congress needs to be followed up on with an appropriation.” Courtney called on the DoD to provide Congress the data underlying its request, when the request actually arrives on Capitol Hill, saying it would foster conversation among lawmakers. The Pentagon has rough calculations, but contractors have not yet filed claims, Lord said, because Congress has not drafted an appropriations bill. She speculated the full extent of the issues will emerge over time. “I believe they are concerned that they'll get a one-time shot and want to make sure what the entire situation is,” she said. “We believe we understand the lower end of the number.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/10/defense-industrys-covid-costs-could-tank-dod-modernization-plans/
July 16, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
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